i support creative practicing. jen osborn.

This post is the fifth in my new series, “I support creative practicing”. Over the course of the next few weeks I will be sharing some of the creative souls that help me to grow as an artist. Each of them openly acknowledges who pushes them to grow their art. Each of them supports the process of creative practicing. Soaking it all in, learning from all sorts of creatives and then turning it all into something that they can call their own. As it should be. Seriously.

This week I am happy to share one of my favorite peeps, jen osborn. We are able to have complete conversations using only FB stickers. I love that.

Tell me about what is sitting on your art table right now. Who inspired you to create it? What did you see that spurred you into action? Can we see a picture of it?

Right now I have a couple cardboard houses that I’m painting for friends and family with acrylic paint. I want to try using my background techniques for painting on canvas, and then use an oil based pen to draw details around the doors and windows after.

I found these awesome cardboard houses on Etsy while looking for Christmas decorations, and I thought they would be great gifts for after the New Year. I’m thinking it might be fun to draw the recipients word for 2014 on it, and then they can fill it with things that helped them realize their word as the year progresses.

I did this really fun house for the release of Roben-Marie’s stamp line. I’ve also been drawing a lot of houses in my art journals for a couple years now, so a 3D house seemed like the next step. I used my painted/ stamped house, and Linda Woods painted houses as a starting point.

If you could sit next to one of the masters and pick their creative brains, who would it be and why?

Wow, I would like to spend a day with so many of them, but if I could only choose one it would have to be Vincent Van Gogh. I would love to sit and talk with him about how he viewed the world; why he choose to portray the world in swirls and slaps of paint. I know he was a tortured soul, but I can totally relate to his unbridled compulsion when it came to creating I saw an exhibit of his original painting at the Detroit Institute of art, and his story of unrequited love and personal torment really touched my heart.. I am in love with my palate knife, and he did things with that simple tool that blows my mind to this day. The science side of my brain would love to have long discussions with Leonardo DaVinci. His imagination and mastery of everyday objects is phenomenal. I would love to share art journals with him, and daydream about creating fantastical machines.

If you could sit next to a creative crush for a day, who would it be? And don’t cheat, it has to be someone who has no idea who you are?

Spending time creating with other artists is hands down one of my favorite things to do. Since I create all day at home by myself, I have to admit that I spend a fair amount of time daydreaming about playdates! There are so many I could choose from either people I’m blessed to actually know, to artists that I stalk on Instagram. If I could sit and crush groove all day with someone right now who has no idea who I am it would have to be the Japanese illustrator/ director Hayao Miyazaki. His works had such a huge influence on my art when I was first starting out, and I really try to maintain his fresh & childlike perspective when creating art. He’s able to reach across nationalities, and create characters that speak to our hearts. The fact that he just drew his last movie hits home the fact that it would be a life changing meeting for me. I have huge respect for the storytellers of all generations.

It’s a true gift to be able to convey a story so that the person hearing it actually cares about the outcome.

That’s a gift Miyazaki-san definitely has.

If you can, describe the magical turn when something that comes together -when all the bits and pieces fall together after lots of practice?

Sometimes I have a hard time falling into my groove. My daily life can be really quiet, and sometimes I need music or background noise to get peaceful inside. I can only create amazing things when I am completely still in my soul. For me it starts with a tickle or itch in my fingertips. I get a bit flushed in the face, and my heart starts to race a bit as I fall into the groove of creating. I loose all track of time, and it can either zoom by or tick away at a snail’s pace depending on my mood. It’s like running a marathon, giving birth, or doing really good drugs; it’s a rush that starts in the center of my mind and spreads outward like a ginormous explosion.

I have been asked to be a part of an upcoming class, Studying Under the Masters hosted by Jeanne Oliver and includes 7 other amazing artists. The premise of the class is that each of us will study under a master artist as an apprentice. I will be focusing on Georgia O’Keeffe and copying her work and studying her as an apprentice would. I will (hopefully) take bits and pieces of what I learned from her and turn them into something that is all mine.

Have you signed up for Studying Under the Mastersyet? It starts this month and it is going to be awesome! Just click the PayPal button below!